Our Home--The Story, Part Three

So the anticipated Saturday came when we were going to get to look inside the house that we were hoping would become our new home. We met the realtor at the door and got the tour. To say it was exactly what we were looking for would be a lie. It did have 3 bedrooms and a den (which has a closet, so for our purposes would be a 4th bedroom) and it had 2 toilets. That was pretty much what we'd narrowed our search down to, just focusing on the absolute necessities and not the frills, trying to be good stewards of our money and not get into something we wouldn't be able to afford.

The "bones" of the house seemed solid, but to make the house our home, it was going to take quite a bit of updating. The living room had orange sponge-painted walls, a fireplace with some very 70's orange, brown, and yellow tile on the hearth and an ugly mantle.

But the wood ceilings were beautiful. We walked from the living room into the kitchen with walls covered in wallpaper with "lovely" vegetables all over it, including a matching border, and a hideous light fixture over the eat-in portion....oy vay!!

But, it did have two, that's right, TWO pantries, and I immediately could envision turning one into my "school closet" so all of our books and supplies could be hidden for the first time in our homeschooling life! Off of the kitchen was a large laundry room with a doggie door in the door leading to the back yard, which was plus.

In the laundry room was a three-quarters bath with a shower stall which boasted an interesting shade of yellow tile. Yikes!

Off of the laundry room was a large bedroom, the master, with beautiful wood ceilings and not-so-beautiful textured wallpaper. But the wallpaper was a light tan color, without any print on it, so I counted it a blessing.

We went through the other 3 bedrooms and the other bathroom, all of which, except one bedroom, had wallpaper galore. My oh my, would we have our work cut out for us. We walked outside to the backyard and were very pleased with what we saw....a nice concrete patio area including a porch swing and a nicely landscaped side yard with a big old tree. Now this was good! Our kids love playing outside and we could just see how perfect this yard was for our family.

Aron and I talked a little outside and despite all the things we'd have to work on to make it a home in our style, we realized that this house was really perfect for our family at this time in our lives. We walked back inside, asked the official asking price and told the realtor we'd take it! The house wasn't even officially on the market yet, but because of our friend Connie looking out for us, we were in a really good position to get the house before anyone else had a chance to see it! He met us a bit later back at our rental house and we signed paperwork to get the deal started. He did inform us that there was one other offer on the home that he'd just received that morning (an investor who'd also been at the estate sale), but that the owner who'd been there when we toured the house really liked us and she wanted her childhood home (can you believe we were going to be buying the home from the original owner??? You never hear of that anymore!) to be a home for a nice family, not turned into a rental property right away. However, she was going to think about both offers and we'd have to wait a few more days for her and her brother to decide what they wanted to do about selling the house for their mother. We waited anxiously, yet at peace, for the decision to be made....

Our Home--The Story, Part Two

So we continued the house hunt, feeling a little more concerned (well, I was at least....Aron never worries about anything!) about running out of time. Our lease was up September 15th and being that most homes were bank owned foreclosures, a quick closing was unlikely, so the pressure was on to find "the one."

In July, Aron had to go out of town for a week for summer camp and so I was on the search alone. During this time, I felt like God made it even clearer to me that it was very important for us to find a home that would fit us but would not break the bank. I felt like He was telling me to stay simple, stay focused on paying off debt, so that if/when He calls us to "the next thing" we would be free to go/do. The problem was that I knew Aron wasn't convinced. His idea of the right house and mine still hadn't quite meshed. But taking my friend Leslie's hints, I didn't say anything and just kept searching.

Meanwhile, a friend from church informed me of a house she'd been inside while at an estate sale that she'd learned was going to be put up for sale soon. I kinda stored it in the back of my mind because while Aron was out of town, I was scheduled to view a few more homes. While Aron was at camp he called me and we had quite a conversation. He told me how since the church had used charter buses to get all the kids to camp he had been in charge of driving one of the church vans so that in case anything went wrong like a student getting hurt, he'd be able to drive down them down the mountain. Anyway, since he was alone in the van he listened to talk radio, his favorite type of in-the-car listening, and the Dave Ramsey show came on. Now typically, Aron only listens to talk radio that is either about politics or sports. Financial advice is not his "cup of tea" but he, for some reason, decided to listen. And wouldn't you know, the whole show was people calling in boasting, "We're debt free! We're debt free!" And it really spoke to Aron. He, without my prompting, realized that we needed to be looking for a house in a lower price bracket so that we could start saving money to pay off his student loans (our only debt besides housing). I was in shock!! This was definitely a God-incidence (no such thing as a co-incidence in my mind!).

Since Aron and I were now on the same page, I got the information from my friend Connie (she had been to the estate sale, walked around the house knowing we needed a home with four bedrooms, and had the thought to ask the owner if it was for sale, which it was going to be, and got her name and phone number for me!) from the slip of paper I'd jotted it down on, and called the owner of the house. She informed me that she was meeting with her realtor that Saturday to get it put on the market and that we were free to come on by to take a look at it. I asked her what she would be pricing it at and when she told me, I got even more excited about this possibility. It was just where we needed to be to stay on our new plan of paying less per month for our housing in order to have money left over every month to get out of debt.

Aron was returning home from camp Friday evening and Saturday morning, we were scheduled to go view the house. In the week he was gone to camp, I drove by the house several times, at different times of day to get an idea of the neighborhood. It was only about a one minute drive away from where we were already living, and we already liked the area. The house looked to be in good shape from the outside and I was beginning to really think this might be just what God had up His sleeve for us.

....to be continued....

Our Home--The Story, Part One

We've officially owned our new California home for about three weeks now and it's time to tell the long-awaited story of how it came to be ours.  It truly is quite a story with God's fingerprints all over it.

Back in October of 2010 when we made the God-appointed move all the way across the country, we knew renting a house was the right choice for us until we got ourselves settled into our new church and our new life here in Bakersfield.  We found a home which was perfect for us and although the rent was a good price for the area, living on one income, a ministry income at that, there would definitely not be any leftovers at the end of every month.  We loved living in that home on a cul-de-sac, but  it was time to find something else.  Since we knew that the housing prices were as low as they've been in a long time, and since we really needed to have a four bedroom house to make room for Mei, our international student, we started looking to buy.

Now, those of you who know me well know that I'm a very practical kind of girl while Aron is a dreamer.  It makes for a good balance for our marriage, but it proved a little tricky when starting the house hunt.  I wanted a house that would be just what we need and nothing more and I wanted the price to allow us to be able to save money every month.  Aron wanted a house that wouldn't need much work, had a pool, and he was ok with a monthly payment that was equal to what we'd been paying for rent.  I had a really hard time coming to terms with that and it was definitely causing some tension between Aron and I.  I talked with my very wise friend, Leslie, and she gave me some advice that was hard to do, but was exactly what God wanted from me.  She guided me to the understanding that Aron is the head of our household and that I needed to leave the house decision in his hands, all the while praying that God would be clear to Aron to direct him in making the right decision for our family.  She also advised me to not say anything more about the prices of homes in which he was interested. Well, I didn't exactly say nothing, but I said a whole lot less. ;)

We found a home that would need some work, but nothing too major; we both loved the neighborhood and the price was right in the middle of where I thought we should buy and where Aron thought we could afford.  It was a HUD home so we had to bid on it and then wait about 9 days before we'd know if we'd won it.  Well, we didn't.  We were outbid about $1800.  We were bummed but knew God had something else in mind.

We continued to look online, several times a day, to find what available homes there were.  We went and looked at several and most of them were quite horrible!  Either the neighborhood was terrible or the house itself was.  One day we had scheduled to go look at three houses and we both loved the last house.  It was so nicely done inside and it had a pool, which Aron loved, and it was in a neighborhood we were familiar with and was in a great location.  Despite my hesitancy with the price (it was the absolute top of what we could afford, putting us in no better of a situation than we'd already been), I agreed that we should go ahead and make an offer.  I figured that our pickings were getting really slim, as the houses we'd seen lately had been really bad.  The day after we made our offer, the realtor called to tell us that because the house was owned by Bank of America, they required a pre-approval letter through them.  Aron was out of town so I scrambled to get all the paperwork in to the realtor so we could beat any other offers that might be made.  Well, it was all for naught as we found out that Bank of America would not approve us.  Although we'd already been approved through our mortgage broker, B of A said they wouldn't approve us because of the house we still own in Florida.  We were really shocked, even the realtor, and bummed that once again, we were on the hunt.  But little did we know what a blessing that disapproval was!

.....to be continued.....

God's Story Book

As you all know, we are a homeschooling family. I love the fact that I get to be my children's teacher (although there are many days I wish I could just send them to school!) and the closeness our family shares from spending so much time together. As you probably know, homeschooling can turn into a very expensive venture, as there are tons of curriculum choices available, many costing almost as much as it would cost to send a child to private school. Because we are a family in ministry (which isn't exactly a high-earning income!), I've always been very frugal with our curriculum choices, spending lots of time online searching for free or inexpensive worksheets/activities, buying workbooks and manipulatives at yard sales, etc.

We began this 2010-2011 school year still living in North Carolina where I was a part of the local homeschool group. I didn't get too involved, but I was on the email loop and there would sometimes be a family giving away curriculum they no longer needed. That is how I got the Language Arts curriculum we ended up using this school year. I was so grateful to have gotten the reading books and the workbooks for free, yet the blessing of these books and the providence of God in supplying them was yet to be truly realized.

During the summer before school started is when Aron started looking for a new job. His job at TMobile did not hire him back after he returned from Wyoming and we were completely trusting God to show us exactly where He wanted us to be. We diligently prayed that God would open only the door (not doors...complete clarity is what we were seeking!) He wanted us to walk through and when He did, we would go. Over the summer is when the job here in Bakersfield started to look promising. Without complete surety, we began talking to the kids about the possibility of moving very far away. They were a little excited, but mostly concerned with how they would make new friends. We assured them as much as we could and prayed often that God would continue to be with us and bring us peace.

School started for the year and wouldn't you know, the first two stories of the year in our new Reading book were all about making new friends and how it can be scary and exciting at the same time, which allowed us the opportunity to talk about what it was going to be like if and when we moved to a new place. I remember thinking those first few weeks how neat it was that God had allowed me to get this curriculum and how it was just right for that time in our life. Well, that continued throughout the school year.

As we got into September, the committee that was interviewing Aron decided they wanted he and I to fly out for a weekend, which meant I had to coordinate childcare while we were gone. By this point, we were feeling more certain that Bakersfield, CA was going to be our new home so in faith, we loaded up all of our possessions in a trailer attached to our truck and temporarily moved back to Florida, waiting on God to make His will crystal clear. Being back with family made the childcare issue much easier and it worked out great since Aunt Fran, a teacher, was able to keep the kids on track with school while we were gone. I remember when we returned, now knowing for sure that we would be moving to California, Fran, with tears in her eyes, asked me if I had planned what story the kids would be reading that week for school. I let her know that I did not, that we were just doing a story-a-week and we were just following the book's schedule. She said the story she read with them, "My Name is Yoon," was the perfect story at the perfect time. It was all about a young Korean girl who had to move far, far away to America and how it was hard for her at first, but how she soon saw that it was just where she was supposed to be, which was pretty much exactly how we all were feeling! Maybe a little thing to some, but as we were watching God make our path clear, these little markers along the way were priceless!

So we made the long move to Bakersfield and settled into our new home and new church. The kids adjusted quickly and we've all made some great friends here. We've continued to have little "markers" along the way that have shown us over and over that we're exactly where we're supposed to be. Funny thing is, God continued to use our Reading books, remember, given to us in NORTH CAROLINA, to confirm in us that California was certainly our new home. A few months after living here, we read a super cute story in our Reading book called "Mice and Beans." It's one of our favorites now. Well, the next story in the book was an autobiography by the author of "Mice and Beans" and guess where she was born and raised......Bakersfield, CA!! What? We were given these books on the other side of the continent, never having heard of Bakersfield until the job offer came.....God, You are too cool!!!

I know there are many people who would say that these are just random circumstances, that God has absolutely nothing to do with our Reading book, but I don't care! When you purpose to look for God in the everyday details of your life, you will begin to notice so many little things that He does to bring Himself glory, to reassure you that every detail of your life matters to Him. What a blessing to be able to share that truth with my children as we did school this past year!

Oh, and there's one more "marker" that God posted through our Reading book. Back in February, I believe, our Director of Missions informed the congregation one Sunday morning that she was organizing a mission trip to Tanzania. I immediately knew that I was supposed to go, and most of you have already been supporting me in prayer and some even financially. So I'll give you one guess as to what the last story of our Reading book this year was about.....you got it, Tanzania!!! I mean, seriously, that is coincidence? I think not!!!

God is so good!!!

Last week, I put some "cryptic" posts on Facebook, asking for prayer for some possible huge developments in our family. Now that we know those "developments" will not be taking place, I would like to explain what it was all about.

For those of you who know us pretty well, you've probably heard us at some point talking about adoption. It is something Aron and I have felt called to even back when we were dating. It was never a question of if, it was more of when and how it was going to happen. Through the years, we've learned how costly private adoption is, and so we made the decision that when we adopt, unless God somehow gave us children through some other way, we'd be adopting through the foster care system.

Since living in California, we have felt led to begin pursuing becoming licensed foster parents so that we'd be able to adopt when the time and situation allowed. We've talked with several of our friends here at church about it and revealed our hearts' desire to add to our family in this way.

Then last week, I received a phone call from a friend at church who said something like, "This is probably the strangest phone call I've ever made" and it certainly was the strangest phone call I'd ever received. Long story short, a friend of hers had contacted her, asking if she knew of any Christian families in Bakersfield who wanted to adopt twin two-year old boys and so she called us! My heart raced as I listened to her tell me what she knew about the boys' situation. Could this be the way God would provide for us to adopt? Could these boys be part of our family?

I called Aron and we decided to move forward, believing that God would stop us if the answer was no. I talked with the distant family member who currently has the boys a few days later and we set up a time to meet the boys. All weekend, we prayed and asked many others to join us seeking God's crystal clear direction for our family. We didn't want to get anyone's hopes up, ours, the boys', or the family who was doing their part to find a permanent home for the twins. We prayed very specifically that God would give us a deep peace after meeting the boys that would let us know if we should move forward with it or not. We were cautiously excited, thinking how this was so possibly just like God, to allow us the opportunity to adopt in this way.

The day of our meeting of the twins came and again, while on the drive to their home, we prayed, asking God to give us His peace if we were to pursue this. We pulled up to the home, met the family, and spent almost two hours with the twins. They were absolutely adorable! Our kids played so easily with them. The twins were drawn to Aron immediately and I sat with the grandma and listened to the sad story of what their life had been before she had "rescued" them. We had a really, really nice time; however, the peace we deeply sought from the Lord was not there. Instead, we were so distraught after leaving, almost in a depression of sorts because as much as our hearts would have loved to bring those boys home, our minds knew it wasn't right. The boys had many needs and we knew that in our home of four children, three of which will be homeschooling this coming school year, we would not be able to give them the time and attention and constant supervision they desperately need.

Upon leaving their home, we informed the family we'd be in touch after we prayed and talked about what we would be doing. I spoke with the grandma yesterday and let her know that we would not be able to pursue adopting the twins. She was very sweet and understanding of how limited we would be in our ability to give them the undivided attention they're going to need for the next several years. I made sure to encourage her and let her know we think what she is doing for the boys is amazing. I also let her know that if nothing else, God allowed us a "reality check" of sorts for our desire to adopt, knowing that we will need to only take on one child at a time! And also, that God had allowed us to meet those two beautiful boys so that we can now pray for them to find the family that He already has picked out for them.

Our hearts are still a little bit sad about the whole situation. It's one thing to know there are children out there who need homes; it's a whole other thing to meet them and not be able to give them the family they want and need. This adoption road is going to be long, I know. I have friends who are currently experiencing it and it's heartbreaking to hear all the ups and downs they have to go through. However, God's heart is for the orphan. His Father heart longs to bring the orphaned soul into His forever family. As a believer, I am no longer one of the fatherless. I am a daughter of the King! "So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him 'Abba, Father.'" Romans 8:15

We are confident that in God's timing, in His way, He will bring us the children He wants to be part of our family. In the meantime, we will continue to pray for the twins, we will continue pursuing becoming licensed foster parents, and we will continue to trust God with our family.

Happenings

Things have been busy around here lately!!! Between homeschooling, tutoring (a part-time job I got), church, mission trips (Aron's to San Francisco with the Jr. Highers and my preparation for Tanzania in June), and just regular, every day life with my four blessings, there's been a lot going on! So here are some pictures of some of the everyday happenings around here:

Just a picture of Libbie's ponytail....pretty messy, but I love that her hair's long enough for me to put it all up! Plus, she's got a pretty cute profile, wouldn't you say?

And big sister Anna's ponytail...quite a bit bigger than Libbie's! I remember when she was Elizabeth's age and I was so worried that she'd always have super-thin hair. Well, I think she'll be just fine! Her hair has definitely thickened up this past year, but it's still really stringy...any advice on that?

My Anna girl.

And the cheese-ball, Libbie June!

Nathan at gymnastics class, which he loves! One of the biggest blessings God granted us in our move to California was the opportunity to be involved with Valley Oaks Charter School, a school set up solely for homeschooling families. One of the super-awesome benefits we are given through the school is being able to use one of their "vendor services" at a greatly reduced fee. They offer things through local vendors such as music lessons, art, swimming, and gymnastics, just to name a few. The school will put $40 per month towards each child enrolled at the school and when we use the vendor AmericanKids, it's absolutely free! So both boys did swimming last semester (in the indoor pool at the gym), and this semester Nathan is doing gymnastics while Caleb hones his swimming skills. I cannot explain how blessed we are by this opportunity! We've always lived on a very tight budget, so things like monthly fees to a gym were not possible. I'm so amazed at God's provision for us through Valley Oaks!

Nathan's hanging off the bars way back there...the boy in all green. He doesn't have much fashion sense!

Caleb being a docent at History Camp! Another great thing about Valley Oaks Charter is the History Camp they hold every year. Both boys got to be involved, Nathan one week with the older kids and Caleb the next week. The school sits right next to the Kern County Museum, which has many old properties that have been donated and moved to the site, and I guess they have established a nice working relationship with them. The kids got to borrow 1800's-style costumes from the school and learn different trades and skills from the time period, all in the setting of the museum with it's old buildings. Then, on the last day of camp, the kids got to pick which skill/trade they wanted to share and they became docents to the public school classes that came for a Living History Day field trip! Isn't that so cool?! I'm sad to say that I have no pictures of Nathan during his week, (I'm still getting used to remembering my camera as I didn't have one for awhile after the boys broke my other one shortly after our move) but I do have just this one of Caleb playing checkers. His station was of the games children used to play.

Caleb putting ants into the ant home. One of our friends at church works at Insect Lore, a local company that is responsible for all of those bug habitats you've seen advertised on infomercials or sold at stores, including the ones where you send off for caterpillars and watch them turn into chrysalises and then into butterflies. He invited us for a tour of the Bugseum and it's inner workings and we came home with many gifts, including a butterfly habitat and the caterpillars, mealworms to watch turn into beetles, a ladybug home with ladybug larva, and an ant hill! Such a blessing!!

Daddy helping to find the ants with Raleigh's assistance. :)

Still looking....Can I just say how awesome my husband is? He gets right down in the dirt, literally, to be involved with our kids. He blesses me so much by the way he fathers our children.

My girls! Don't you just love the "cheese" stage?! Elizabeth's got it down!

Kinda hard to see in the picture, but this was an incredibly clear day and I just had to take a picture of the mountains we can see on our drive home from church. On clear days, the beauty of them can literally take my breath away! If you look carefully, below the clouds, you can see all the snow on them. It's so neat that although we'll probably never get snow here in Bakersfield, just a short drive away, like 45 minutes, we can be in all the snow you could want, let the kids play, and then drive home and not have to shovel our driveway. Pretty great if you ask me!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! I know it's been a long time. Stay tuned for pictures from Easter (that's for you, Mom! ;) )

God in the Everyday Things

I've been having a rough time lately. Things in my life have felt pointless and overwhelming at times. About two weeks ago, I finally had a time of "letting it all out" to my poor husband, who I am so incredibly blessed to have with me. He let me cry and cry and say some things that I'm sure made him wonder what in the world he'd gotten himself into! Through it all, God's grace has been renewed in my spirit. Although there are still overwhelming moments in my days, especially when I think about some of the upcoming events of our lives, I am starting to see God again in the everyday things:

*We've had only one vehicle most of our time here in Bakersfield, which has caused a lot of juggling and inconvenience. Then, a few Sundays ago, our only vehicle's transmission died on us(it's under warranty, but that's another story). My awesome, faith-filled husband didn't freak out (like me...sigh) but instead turned it over to God. We got rides to church, which was such a blessing, and that day in church, as soon as the service was over, a family of 2 of our Junior High students offered one of their vehicles to us to use for a week! Aron had just been praying about it moments before, hearing God say, "Don't worry. I've got this." And He really did. That family's offer to us was a direct answer to prayer!

*Because we've had only one vehicle, we knew the time had come (thanks to our tax return :)) to look for a second vehicle. Because we have four children (and are in the process of becoming certified foster/adoptive parents), our transportation choices unfortunately limit us to big gas guzzlers. So Aron started searching online for something that could accomodate us now and in the near future and decided a used Suburban would be our best choice. He found one on Craigslist here in Bakersfield that was priced higher than he thought it should be, but for some reason, he kept coming back to it. He called the number on the ad and set up a meeting to see the truck. Long story short, the owner of the truck is a strong Christian who is friends with several of the families at our church. Aron and he discussed the price, both agreed to go home and pray about it, and talk the next day. Despite all the "coincidences" I was still undecided and so the owner allowed us, before purchasing the vehicle, to take it home for a night!!! What?! Who does that? Well, probably needless to say, we are now the owners of that Suburban which we bought for over $1000 less than what the owner was asking for it. God again.

*A couple Wednesday nights ago after church, we were given a gift of $75. Now, if ever someone out of the blue decides to give you money, it's a blessing, right? Of course. But this family has been struggling some financially and the mom had been out of job for awhile. And not only did they bless us, but they blessed another family that night too. $150 is a big deal, especially when it's as a sacrifice. God once again.

*Wednesday mornings are busy for us....Anna goes to preschool at our church (another God provision, by the way), the boys go to enrichment classes at their charter school, and I have Bible study at church. So just yesterday, I decided to run through McDonald's to grab the boys, Libbie, and I lunch before we had to pick Anna up from school. Because we've always lived on a very tight budget, when we do go out to eat, we try to get as much food as we can for as little money as possible. Therefore, Happy Meals are an extremely rare treat. But, I had a coupon for a free Happy Meal! So I got myself and Libbie a meal to share and the boys each a Happy Meal and since Anna eats lunch at school, I figured I'd just have to explain a little to her if she was upset about missing out. But she was very sweet and understanding and didn't fuss one bit. As the boys opened their Happy Meals (very enthusiastically I might add ;)) and immediately forgot that they were "starving!" as they searched for their toys, Caleb noticed that he had two toys! A Batman toy AND a girl toy! Now, I know that's not that big of a deal, but it's just another way I can see God. Anna got to have a toy that was totally unexpected and she was a happy little girl. Thank You Lord, for even the accidental, extra Happy Meal toy!

I hope to return to blogging more regularly. I read many other friends' (and strangers') blogs and just haven't felt up to it lately. But as God is renewing and refreshing me, I feel ready to share again. And I was able to get some free gift cards from different "points" I've earned and will definitely be buying a new camera (my month-old, generously gifted camera was broken by my boys a month after moving here...ugh!) so that I can do a better job keeping y'all updated with pictures of the kiddos!

Keep looking for God in the everyday things....He's there and He loves to be noticed!